Pappasergi confident Trojans can repeat last year’s success
Holly Tonini
California’s Kass Taylor takes a shot during a practice game.
Holly Tonini
Bruno Pappasergi announced Sunday that he will not return to coach the California Area boys basketball team.
California sophomore Ben WIlson makes a layup during practice.
California's Kass Taylor played in the Roundball Classic undergraduate game last season.
California boys basketball coach Bruno Pappasergi knows finishing ahead of Section 3-A powerhouse Monessen is improbable, but said his team can repeat its success of last year.
“Monessen is a very good team. I look for them to probably defend their championship in the WPIAL and go onto the states. We would have to be very, very good to beat them,” Pappasergi said. “As far as the other teams go, I feel like if we play the game that we’re capable of playing, we should be able to be successful once again.”
Last season, the Trojans went 17-7 (10-2 section) and won a first-round game in the WPIAL Class A playoffs.
“It was a very good year for us last year, and we’re looking forward to having the same type of year this year as well,” Pappasergi said.
The Trojans need to replace guard Tray Matthews, who graduated and is now playing at Penn State Fayette. Matthews averaged 16.3 points per game in his senior season.
“We were pretty successful because of the type of offense we ran, which, with Tray Matthews, was very good at running and scoring a lot last year,” Pappasergi said.
One top player returning from last year is 6-foot-4 junior forward Kass Taylor. Pappasergi said Taylor, like Matthews, was an influential part of the Trojans’ success last year because of his ability to make the offense flow.
Taylor is one of four juniors in the starting lineup, as guards John De Franco and J.C. Conaway as well as forward Dylan Hammitt all look to lead California this season. All four juniors in the starting lineup are experienced players, Pappasergi said, as they are all returning starters.
To fill the spot in the starting lineup that Matthews held last year, Pappasergi said there’s a competition between six sophomores: Ben Wilson, Braden Petrucci, Colin Phillips, Jordan Campbell, Dru Miller and Brian Bilitski.
“All those kids are going to play; it’s just a matter of who’s going to start and who’s going to come off the bench,” Pappasergi said. “They all got game experience last year. Bringing them into a situation where they have to start and be big contributors, it’s going to be a little bit different for them.”
Pappasergi said having five sophomores on the bench will hopefully make depth something he can rely on.
“It’s going to be tough at the beginning of the season, but as the season progresses and they gain experience, it should be a strength for us as we go on,” Pappasergi said.
Pappasergi said as long as his players stay focused, the team can experience similar success to last year.
“[I’m] really excited about coaching these kids once again,” Pappasergi said. “They’re very coachable young men. They’re a great group of kids. It’s going to be a fun year for us.”
(See more photos with story on our website.)